BIOMOLECULES:

CHEMICAL
COMPOUNDS OF THE
LIVING SYSTEM
BIOCHEMISTRY

 The chemistry of life.

 Plants, animals, and all other living
things are made up of organic
molecules which are organized into
larger molecules, known as
biomolecules.
 BIOMOLECULES

 Serve as a building blocks of life and

also provide the structural components
of cells.
 Chemical reactions involving
biomolecules produce or store energy
to sustain life.
Organic Compounds
CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates
 Organic compounds consisting of
Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen.
 Chief energy sources in all
organisms.
 The most abundant b.m in the
biosphere.
 It includes sugar, starch and
cellulose.
 Various Roles
 It serves as the backbone of other
molecules.
 It serves as stored energy.
 It is the most common source of
energy in the body.
 It combines with proteins to form
structural components of living cells.
 The major component of the cell
walls of bacteria.
 Make up the exterior shells of
animals like crabs and shrimps etc.
 Cellulose is the most abundant
organic molecule in plants.
Classification of Carbohydrates

 Monosaccharide- “Simple Sugar”

GLUCOSE (dextrose)

A very important hexose is the

starting material for cellular
respiration and the primary source
of energy for cellular metabolic
activities.
It is called “blood sugar” since
it is the principal sugar in the
blood.
In hospitals, it is given
intravenously whenever oral
nutrition is not yet possible.
FRUCTOSE (fruit sugar)

 It is found in fruits and is twice as

sweet as glucose.
“grape sugar” (wine sugar) due
to its abundance in grapes.
GALACTOSE (milk sugar)

It is found in all forms of

milk.
Disaccharide-“Double
sugar”
 Disaccharides
 2 monosaccharide units bond to each
other to form it
 The 3 most common disaccharides are:
 SUCROSE
 LACTOSE
 MALTOSE
 The body breaks down disaccharides into
monosaccharide units to be used for
metabolism
 SUCROSE (table sugar)

 Made up of 1 molecule each of glucose ad

fructose.
 Since fructose is about twice as sweet as
glucose, sucrose is sweeter when it is
broken down into its individual
components.
 LACTOSE (milk sugar)

 Made up of glucose and galactose.

 It eventually ends up in the large
intestines where bacteria proceed to
digest it.
 In digesting the monosaccharide, bacterial
produce carbon dioxide resulting in excess
intestinal gas.
MALTOSE (malt sugar)

 A disaccharide which is made up of 2

glucose units.
 It is present in malt, the grain use in
brewing beer.
Polysaccharide- “Complex sugar”
Polysaccharides

 Made up of several monosaccharide

units joined together by covalent
bonds called glycosidic bonds.
 It includes:
 STARCH
 GLYCOGEN
 CELLULOSE
 Starch (Food storage in
plants)

 Occurs in microscopic granules in the cells

of roots, tubers and seeds of plants.
 Serves as a major source of energy for
animals and humans.
Heating starch converts it to
dextrin, a substance with good
adhesive properties and is used
as wallpaper glue.
Glycogen (Food storage in
animals)

 Found in muscles and liver.

 In the muscles, it acts as an
immediate source of energy.
 It diminished during exercise.
Cellulose
 It is the material that makes up
plant cell walls.
 It is insoluble in water and cannot
be digested by humans.
 It is generally used in paper making.
Lipids
Lipids

It includes fats, and fatlike

molecules.
They are insoluble in water but
are soluble in organic solvents
such as benzene, ether and
chloroform.
Lipids have a wide variety of
structural types which includes
the following substances:
fatty acids
Phospholipids
Waxes
Steroids
prostaglandins
Lipids can be classified as:
saponifiable like fats, oils, waxes, and;
nonsaponofied like steroids,
cholesterol and prostaglandins.
Lipids are to form part of the
cell membrane structure.
Lipids serves as starting
material for the formation of
hormones, vitamins and bile
acids.
LIPIDS:fats and oils
 The most abundant of the lipid compounds
are the fats and oils, also known as
triglycerides.
 At room temperature, fats are usually solid
while oils exist as liquids.
 Animal fats are mixed fats containing more
saturated fatty acids than unsaturated
fatty acids.
 The presence of double bonds in the fatty
acids of oil significantly lowers its melting
point.
 NAME MELTING POINT ⁰C

Lauric 44

Myristic 53

Palmitic 63

Stearic 70

Oleic 16

Linoleic -5

Linolenic -11

Arachidonic -50
 In the body, fat deposits under the skin acts as
thermal insulator;
 They aid in conserving body temperature.
 They also serve as protection to deeper body
parts against injury.
 Human body needs essential fatty acids
but cannot synthesized all the fatty acids.
 Hence, these must be supplied in the diet.
 Infants lacking these fatty acids in their
diet will lose weight and can develop
eczema.
Incidence of heart disease is
believed to be influenced by high-
fat diets.
Studies show that the kind of fat
consumed can affect levels of
blood triglycerides and cholesterol
which may, in turn, influence the
risk of having a heart attack and/
or stroke.
 Example of Fats

-Lard, Butter, Margarine

 Example of oils

-oils
Waxes
Waxes
 Composed of fatty acids but are
combined with a much longer alcohol
molecule.
 Different from fats in that they are
harder and less greasy.
 Have high melting points and solid at
room temperature.
 Inert and insoluble in water.
 Used as lubricants, polishers, and
ointments.
 Protect the surfaces of leaves, fruits,
animals.
 In humans, wax produced by glands
in the outer ear canal functions to
trap dust and dirt particles.
Steroids
 These are lipids characterized by 3
cyclohexane rings and 1 cyclopentane
ring.

 It is found in several vitamins and

hormones, drugs, poisons, bile acids.
STEROID: cholesterol
 A sterol formed in brain tissue, nerve tissue
and the blood, and is the major compound
found in gallstones.
 It contributes to the formation of lipid deposits
on the inner walls of blood vessels, which
harden them and obstruct blood flow.
 STEROID: testosterone

 It promotes the normal

development of male genital organs
and secondary sex characteristic.
 It also produced from cholesterol in
the testes.
Steroids

It includes:
Cholesterol
Sex Hormones
Phospholipids
Phospholipids

 Important components of the

plasma membrane as well as other
biological membrane.
“PROSTAGLANDINS”
These are unsaturated carboxylic
acids biochemically synthesized
from the fatty acid, arachidonic
acid.
They consist of 20 carbons and a
5-member ring.
It is produced when tissues are
damaged and are to minimize tissue
destruction.
Stimulate constriction of damaged blood
vessels and clotting of blood;
Induce labor and reproductive processes;
Inhibit acid synthesis in the
gastrointestinal tract and secretion of
protective mucus;
Increase blood flow in kidneys and
promote constrictions of bronchi
associated with asthma.
PROTEINS
Proteins

 The most abundant organic compounds

in living cells.
 Present in the different parts of the
body like the muscles, skin, nails etc.
 Amino acids- building blocks of
proteins
 Importance of Proteins

 Proteins are essential in building and

repairing body cells and tissues.
 Most enzymes are proteins, and they aid
in speeding up the building and repairing
of almost all tissues.
 Proteins bring about individual
differences.
 Proteins serve as transport molecules, it
serves food, and provides protection as
antibodies.
Nucleic acids
Nucleic Acids

 Large complex organic molecules.

 Composed of the elements carbon, hydrogen,
nitrogen, and phosphorus.
 Nucleotides- building blocks of nucleic acid.
3 BASIC PARTS
- 5 Carbon sugar
- Phosphate group
-Nitrogenous bases
 Nitrogenous Bases
Purines
Adenine
Guanine
Pyrimidine
Cytosine
Thymine
 Pyrimidines always pairs with purines.

A-T, C-G
Example:

A-T-G, C-C-A, T-A-C, G-G-G

T-A-C, G-G-T, A-T-G, C-C-C
 2 types of Nucleic acid

 DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

-A double helix molecule, consisting of 2
strands wound around each other and
held together by weak hydrogen bonds.
-The double helix is twisted and may be
compared to a flexible ladder.
-Found in the nucleus.
-Includes nitrogenous bases such as
adenine, and guanine, cytosine and
thymine.
RNA (ribonucleic acid)
-Single stranded
-Found in both nucleus and
cytoplasm
- Includes the nitrogen bases
adenine, guanine, cytosine,
and uracil.
 Comparison Between DNA and RNA

Component/ DNA RNA

Structure

Sugar Deoxyribose Ribose

Bases Adenine, Adenine, Uracil,

Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine
Guanine, Cytosine

Strands Double stranded Single stranded

Shape Helical Non-helical

 Importance of Nucleic Acids

 DNA
 serves as the genetic material of all
living thing.
 Provides instruction in making proteins
and enzymes in living systems
 RNA
 Synthesized from DNA and responsible
for protein synthesis
Sphingolipids
Sphingolipids

 Commonly found in brain and lungs

and nerve tissues.
 Helps maintain the right shape of
the lungs of a fetus.
 Example

 Sphingomyelin- Which helps

maintain the right shape of the
lungs of a fetus.
Sex Hormones

 Estrogen (female)
-directs cells to develop breast in
females.
 Androgen (male)
- Command cells to create a deep voice
and facial hair in males.
Organic Compounds

 Proteins
 Enzymes
 Nucleic acids
 Carbohydrates
 Lipids
 Fatty acids
 Phospholipids
 Sphingolipids
 Waxes
 Steroids
INORGANIC
COMPOUNDS
WATER
PROPERTIES OF WATER

 The ability to dissolve substances

 Hydrogen-bonding ability
 High heat capacity
 High heat of vaporization
 High heat of fusion
ACIDS
 Acids
 Sour in taste
 Comes from the Latin word acidus
meaning sour
 Turns blue litmus paper into red
 Example of acids
 Citric acid
Boric acid
Ascorbic acid
Acetic acid
BASES
 BASES

 Have a properties contrast with acids.

 Bitter in taste
 Feel slippery or soapy
 Turns red litmus paper to blue.
SALTS
 Salts

 result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a

base.
 Salts can appear to be clear and transparent (sodium
chloride) , opaque, and even metallic and lustrous (iron
disulfide)
EXAMPLES
 Sodium chromate
COPPER SULFATE
Sodium Chloride
Thank You Very Much
for Listening!!
God bless us all!!

Prepared by:
Ms. Ariane Rosan A. Dionisio